1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surgical clip appliers and more specifically to clip appliers having a handle assembly in a scissors configuration.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
Surgical clips are commonly used to occlude body conduit such as blood vessels. In the past, clip appliers have been used to place the clip in an open state over the blood vessel and then to crimp the clip to a closed state thereby pinching and holding the vessel in an occluded configuration.
In some cases, the clip appliers are adapted to work with only one clip at a time. A clip is manually placed between jaws of the clip applier and crimped onto the blood vessel before a second clip is manually loaded into the applier. Such devices are commonly referred to as single-fire clip appliers.
By comparison, multiple clips have been housed in a clip cartridge, which is then mounted on a handle assembly. Operation of the handle assembly causes one of the clips in the cartridge to be automatically loaded into the jaws for ultimate application at the operative site. With such a system, multiple clips can be applied at the site by mere operation of the handle assembly and the cartridge. Such a system is disclosed and claimed in Applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/381,970 filed on Mar. 28, 2003 and entitled “Multiple Clip Applier Apparatus and Method”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Such clip appliers are commonly referred to as multiple-fire clip appliers.
In the past, each single fire clip applier and each multiple-fire clip applier was provided with its own handle assembly. Often both types of appliers were required for a particular surgical procedure, so that multiple instruments were needed. This not only increased the cost of a given procedure but also consumed additional space among the instruments in the operating room.
Single-fire clip appliers have not been formed with cartridges. Rather, the handle assembly has been provided with the jaws necessary to receive and crimp the clip. In these single-fire devices, the instrument is formed entirely of metal and has been designed for repeated use and sterilization, for example, in an autoclave. It is this autoclaving procedure which has often resulted in bending or otherwise damaging the jaws, ultimately resulting in clip misalignment and a general inability to receive and apply the clip.